People directory with social privacy and contact association features

ABSTRACT

In one embodiment, a social networking system provides people look up service and establish anonymous communication session between users; creates contact association for future communication between users; and configures one or more privacy settings for users.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation under 35 U.S.C. § 120 of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 12/857,192, filed 16 Aug. 2010, which isincorporated herein by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure generally relates to providing a person directoryand look up service having social privacy and contact associationfeatures.

BACKGROUND

A social networking system, such as a social networking website, enablesits users to interact with it and with each other through the system.The social networking system may create and store a record, oftenreferred to as a user profile, in connection with the user. The userprofile may include a user's demographic information, communicationchannel information, personal interests and user's interaction withother users within the social networking system. The social networkingsystem may also create and store records of user's events, for example,a social event the user is planning to attend. Meanwhile, a user maycontrol whether his information is shared with others by configuringprivacy settings associated with a user profile and event information.

Directories of information related to people are known. In addition, theLightweight Directory Access Protocol is an application protocol forquerying and modifying data using directory services. A directory can bea set of objects with attributes organized in a logical and hierarchicalmanner. A simple example is the telephone directory, which consists of alist of names (of either persons or organizations) organizedalphabetically, with each name having an address and phone numberassociated with it.

SUMMARY

The present disclosure generally relates to a people directory andcontact look up service. In some implementations, the people directoryand contact look up service allows users to establish communicationsessions, create contact associations for future communications betweenusers, and/or configure privacy settings having social andspatiotemporal aspects for access to contact information. These andother features, aspects, and advantages of the disclosure are describedin more detail below in the detailed description and in conjunction withthe following figures.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates an example system of a social networking system andits directory service

FIG. 2 illustrates an example method of people look up with contactassociation for future communication

FIG. 3 illustrates an example method of creating contact associationsfor future communication between the target user and the initiating user

FIG. 4 illustrates an example method implemented by a directory servicehaving spatiotemporal privacy features.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example network environment.

FIG. 6 illustrates an example computer system.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The invention is now described in detail with reference to a fewembodiments thereof as illustrated in the accompanying drawings. In thefollowing description, numerous specific details are set forth in orderto provide a thorough understanding of the present disclosure. It isapparent, however, to one skilled in the art, that the presentdisclosure may be practiced without some or all of these specificdetails. In other instances, well known process steps and/or structureshave not been described in detail in order not to unnecessarily obscurethe present disclosure. In addition, while the disclosure is describedin conjunction with the particular embodiments, it should be understoodthat this description is not intended to limit the disclosure to thedescribed embodiments. To the contrary, the description is intended tocover alternatives, modifications, and equivalents as may be includedwithin the spirit and scope of the disclosure as defined by the appendedclaims.

A social networking system, such as a social networking website, enablesits users to interact with it, and with each other through, the system.Typically, to become a registered user of a social networking system, anentity, either human or non-human, registers for an account with thesocial networking system. Thereafter, the registered user may log intothe social networking system via an account by providing, for example, acorrect login ID or username and password. As used herein, a “user” maybe an individual (human user), an entity (e.g., an enterprise, business,or third party application), or a group (e.g., of individuals orentities) that interacts or communicates with or over such a socialnetwork environment.

When a user first registers for an account with a social networkingsystem, the social networking system may create and store a record,often referred to as a “user profile”, in connection with the user. Theuser profile may include information provided by the user andinformation gathered by various systems, including the social networkingsystem, relating to activities or actions of the user. For example, theuser may provide his name, contact information, birth date, gender,marital status, family status, employment, education background,preferences, interests, and other demographical information to beincluded in his user profile. The user may identify other users of thesocial networking system that the user considers to be his friends. Alist of the user's friends or first degree contacts may be included inthe user's profile. Connections in social networking systems may be inboth directions or may be in just one direction. For example, if Bob andJoe are both users and connect with each another, Bob and Joe are eachconnections of the other. If, on the other hand, Bob wishes to connectto Sam to view Sam's posted content items, but Sam does not choose toconnect to Bob, a one-way connection may be formed where Sam is Bob'sconnection, but Bob is not Sam's connection. Some embodiments of asocial networking system allow the connection to be indirect via one ormore levels of connections (e.g., friends of friends). Connections maybe added explicitly by a user, for example, the user selecting aparticular other user to be a friend, or automatically created by thesocial networking system based on common characteristics of the users(e.g., users who are alumni of the same educational institution). Theuser may identify or bookmark websites or web pages he visits frequentlyand these websites or web pages may be included in the user's profile.

The user may provide information relating to various aspects of the user(such as contact information and interests) at the time the userregisters for an account or at a later time. The user may also updatehis or her profile information at any time. For example, when the usermoves, or changes a phone number, he may update his contact information.Additionally, the user's interests may change as time passes, and theuser may update his interests in his profile from time to time. A user'sactivities on the social networking system, such as frequency ofaccessing particular information on the system, may also provideinformation that may be included in the user's profile. Again, suchinformation may be updated from time to time to reflect the user'smost-recent activities. Still further, other users or so-called friendsor contacts of the user may also perform activities that affect or causeupdates to a user's profile. For example, a contact may add the user asa friend (or remove the user as a friend). A contact may also writemessages to the user's profile pages—typically known as wall-posts.

In addition to user profile information, the social networking systemmay track or maintain other information about the user. For example, thesocial networking system may host one or more location-based servicesthat record the user's location. For example, users may access thesocial networking system using a special-purpose client applicationhosted by a mobile device of the user. The client application mayautomatically access Global Positioning System (GPS) or othergeo-location functions supported by the mobile device and report theuser's current location to the social networking system. In addition,the client application may support geo-social networking functionalitythat allows users to check-in at various locations and communicate thislocation to other users. The user may also add, delete or update eventsthat the user is associated with. For example, a user may update asocial event associated with a time and date that the user is planningto attend, or make comments in his wall-posts about a past event heattended.

On the other hand, a user may or may not wish to share his informationwith other users or third-party applications, or a user may wish toshare his information only with specific users or third-partyapplications. A user may control whether his information is shared withother users or third-party applications through privacy settingsassociated with his user profile. For example, a user may select aprivacy setting for each user datum associated with the user. Theprivacy setting defines, or identifies, the set of entities (e.g., otherusers, connections of the user, friends of friends, or third partyapplication) that may have access to the user datum. The privacy settingmay be specified on various levels of granularity, such as by specifyingparticular entities in the social network (e.g., other users),predefined groups of the user's connections, a particular type ofconnections, all of the user's connections, all first-degree connectionsof the user's connections, the entire social network, or even the entireInternet (e.g., to make the posted content item index-able andsearchable on the Internet). A user may choose a default privacy settingfor all user data that is to be posted. Additionally, a user mayspecifically exclude certain entities from viewing a user datum or aparticular type of user data. In addition, a user may also configure oneor more privacy settings that control the accessibility of one or moreaspects of its communication channel information, such as a phone numberor email address. For example, a user may configure a privacy settingthat allows only first degree contacts access to the user's cell phonenumber, while allowing second degree (e.g., friends of friends) accessto a user's email address. Privacy settings that control theaccessibility of one or more aspects of a user's communication channelinformation may also have a dynamic, location-based aspect thatconsiders the proximity in time and location with respect to the user.For example, a user may configure a privacy setting that allows accessto the user's email address only for other users who had attended thesame event as the user within the past 3 months. As an additionalexample, a user may configure a privacy setting that allows access tothe user's cell phone number only for other users who are within a10-mile radius of the user's current location. In sum and as anon-limiting example, social networking system may allow users tocontrol access to information along one or more of the followingcategories: 1) specific users, contacts or friends, 2) degrees ofseparation (e.g., 1^(st) degree, 2^(nd) degree or all), 3) past sharedhistory (same company, same school, same hometown), 4) age (e.g., oneuser being within a threshold age range of another user), 5) politicalor other group affiliation, 6) interests, 7) events attended, and 8)current location of residence or presence.

Additionally, social networking system may provide various communicationchannels for users to interact with each other. Thus, users of a socialnetworking system may interact with each other by sending content itemsof various types of media through the communication channels. Inparticular embodiments, communication channels may include, but are notlimited to, email, instant messaging, text, voice or video chat, andwall posts. Social networking system may also maintain external addressinformation, such as external electronic email addresses, phone numberand physical address (e.g., “1000 Main Street, San Francisco, Calif.”).To facilitate user interaction and increase further engagement with thesocial networking system, social networking systems generally provide adirectory service for looking up registered users within the socialnetworking system and providing contact information to allow arequesting user to reach a target user through a given communicationchannel. A social networking system may make the directory serviceavailable outside the social networking system.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example social networking system and its directoryservice. In particular embodiments, the social networking system maystore user profile data in user profile database 101. In particularembodiments, the social networking system may store user event data inevent database 102. In particular embodiments, the social networkingsystem may store user privacy policy data in privacy policy database103. In particular embodiments, databases 101, 102 and 103 may beoperably connected to the social networking system's front end 104. Inparticular embodiments, the front end 104 may interact with clientdevice 105 through network cloud 106. Client device 105 is generally acomputer or computing device including functionality for communicating(e.g., remotely) over a computer network. Client device 105 may be adesktop computer, laptop computer, personal digital assistant (PDA), in-or out-of-car navigation system, smart phone or other cellular or mobilephone, or mobile gaming device, among other suitable computing devices.Client device 105 may execute one or more client applications, such as aweb browser (e.g., Microsoft Windows Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox,Apple Safari, Google Chrome, and Opera, etc.), to access and viewcontent over a computer network. Front end 104 may include web or HTTPserver functionality, as well as other functionality, to allow users toaccess the social networking system. Network cloud 106 generallyrepresents a network or collection of networks (such as the Internet ora corporate intranet, or a combination of both) over which clientdevices 105 may access social network system.

A social network system may maintain social graph information, which canbe generally defined by the relationships among groups of individuals,and may include relationships ranging from casual acquaintances to closefamilial bonds. A social network may be represented using a graphstructure. Each node of the graph corresponds to a member of the socialnetwork. Edges connecting two nodes represent a relationship between twousers. In addition, the degree of separation between any two nodes isdefined as the minimum number of hops required to traverse the graphfrom one node to the other. A degree of separation between two users canbe considered a measure of relatedness between the two users representedby the nodes in the graph.

In particular embodiments, directory service 107 may be connected withdatabases 101, 102 and 103. In particular embodiments, directory service107 may provide a people lookup service based on user profile data,event data, and privacy policy settings of registered users within thesocial networking service. In particular embodiments, directory service107 may provide a people lookup service through social networking systemfront end 104. In particular embodiments, directory service 107 mayprovide a people lookup service through communication handler 108 and/orinteractive voice response system 109 for voice communication withmobile device 110. In particular embodiments, mobile device 110 may be adevice capable of voice communication (e.g., a phone, or a personalcomputer).

Users may access directory service 107 to search for communicationchannel information associated with one or more target users. A user canidentify a target user by first and last name. In the case where theinformation provided by the user resolves to more than one candidatetarget user, directory service 107 may select from among the searchcandidates based on whom the initiating user is more likely to know, forexample, friends of friends, or users in the same social networks (e.g.,same university, same city, or attending the same concert). In otherwords, the directory service 107 may evaluate the overlap between afirst search using names and other information as key words and a secondsearch that evaluates a social graph including contacts between users.For example, the social networking system may create the list of searchcandidates who a user is likely to know based on user connectioninformation maintained in a social graph. A search process that accessthe social graph against the requesting user may generate a list ofcandidates that a user is likely to know by computing the probabilitythat the user will positively convert a connection suggestion into aconnection. The probability computation may be based on factorsincluding, but not limited to, degrees of separation in the socialgraph, demographic information (e.g., number of common friends, workhistory, school history, or location proximity), historical behavioraldata (e.g., the number of times a candidate had accepted a request toconnect), prior interaction data (e.g., a number of times a candidatehad seen the user's video), privacy settings (e.g., a candidate mayblock connection requests from a certain social network group), andprior instruction data (e.g., a candidate may have had declined asimilar connection request before). A suitable social graph searchprocess is described more generally in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,069,308,7,188,153, and 7,451161 and which is hereby incorporated by reference inits entirety and for all purposes.

In particular embodiments, access to directory service 107 may operatein connection with a mobile directory service client application hostedon a mobile device 110. In some implementations, the mobile directoryservice client application can be a plug-in to an address bookapplication installed on a mobile device 110. In particular embodiments,the directory service 107 may be accessible via a 3rd party softwareapplication (e.g., a web browser) hosted on mobile device 100. Inparticular embodiments, an initiating user may submit a people look upquery by providing the directory service 107 1) identificationinformation for a target user (e.g., first and last name, a registereduser id, an email address, or a phone number), and 2) one or more typesof communication channel information requested about the target user(e.g., an email address, a mobile phone number, or other phone number).In particular embodiments, the mobile directory service clientapplication may communicate the query information provided by theinitiating user to directory service 107, and directory service 107 mayrespond to the directory service query with information including, butnot limited to, a NULL message (e.g., no target user information isfound, or the initiating user does not have access to the target user'sinformation), the target user's communication channel information aspermitted by the target user's privacy settings, a confidence levelindicator (e.g., confirmed if the target user's communication channelinformation is from first degree contacts, or unconfirmed if otherwise),and error codes (e.g., directory service 107 is not available). Inparticular embodiments, communication between the mobile directoryservice client application and directory service 107 may be implementedusing the User Datagram Protocol (UDP). In addition, the responsereturned from directory service 107 may be in a JSON (JavaScript ObjectNotation) coded array. In other embodiments, communication between themobile directory service client application and directory service 107may be implemented in Short Message Service (SMS) protocol. Inparticular embodiments, the mobile directory service client applicationmay be configured with a white list which authorizes access to thedirectory service 107 via the client application from certain 3rd partysoftware applications also hosted on the mobile device 110. Inparticular embodiments, the target user may configure one or moreprivacy settings that authorize access to the target user'scommunication channel information for specific groups of users (e.g.,friends only, friends of friends only, or specific networks only), andcontrol what communication channel information (e.g., mobile phonenumber, or email addresses) can be made available to the mobiledirectory service client application. In various implementations, theclient will establish a communications channel that includes the query,identity from the client and a server response. The encoding for queryand response will be dependent on the devices and transmissions medium.Example embodiments may include using UDP (user datagram protocol) forconnectionless results using simple key value encoding. Otherembodiments may utilize SMS for the results or traditional web servicestechnologies over HTTP. Certain embodiments may use a combination of theforegoing. The service described herein is independent of thecommunications channel technology.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example method implementing a directory serviceaccording to one possible implementation of the invention. In thedisclosed embodiment, the social networking system provides a peoplelook up service that includes a contact association mechanism thatfacilitates future communication between an initiating user and a targetuser. In particular embodiments, directory service 107 may receive arequest from an initiating user for directory information of a targetuser (step 201). The request includes one or more informationalattributes that directory service 107 may use to search for and identifythe target user and/or to resolve access permissions for the initiatinguser. The request may also include identifying information of theinitiating user to allow directory service 107 to identify theinitiating user for the purpose of applying one or more of the privacyconfiguration rules associated with the target user. The informationabout the target user provided by the initiating user may include names,user profile information and/or event information (e.g., “John Smith inLos Angeles” or “Mary Williams whom I met in UC Berkeley campus visit inJuly 2009”). The initiating user may make the request from mobile device110 or from client device 105. The initiating user may be or may not bea registered user within the social networking system. The request mayalso query the directory service for data relating to one or morecommunication channels associated with the target user—such as an emailaddress, chat user identifier, a cell phone number, a physical addressand the like.

In particular embodiments, directory service 107 may search for thetarget user (step 202). In particular embodiments, if directory servicecannot find the target user, then directory service may return a “usernot found” message to the initiating user (step 203). If directoryservice 107 finds the target user and access to the target user'sdirectory information is allowed by the privacy settings of the targetuser, then directory service 107 may provide the target user's directoryinformation to the initiating user (step 204). The directory service 107may access the privacy configurations of the target user against thesocial and other attributes of the initiating user—such as whether theinitiating user is a friend of the target user, the degree of separationbetween the target and initiating user, the residence locations of thetarget and initiating user, the groups or affiliations of the target andinitiating user, the common interests of the target and initiating user,and the like—to determine whether to allow access to the communicationschannel information of the target user. For example, the target user mayhave configured a privacy contact setting that allows anyone thatattended the same college to access one or more aspects of the targetuser's contact information, such as an email address or telephonenumber. The configurability of contact information privacy settings withthe attributes discussed above allows for semi-public access to userdirectory information.

In particular embodiments, if access to the communications channelinformation of the target user and anonymous connection is not allowedby the privacy settings of the target user, then directory service 107may return an “access denied” message to the initiating user. Ifanonymous connection is allowed by the privacy settings of the targetuser, then directory service 107 may establish an anonymous connectionsession between the target user and initiating user (step 205 and 206).The anonymous connection session may be in the form of anonymous phonecall, anonymous email communication, and anonymous chat session, all ofwhich may be mediated by directory service 107. As described above,directory service 107 may access the privacy configurations of thetarget user against the social and other attributes of the initiatinguser to determine whether to initiate an anonymous communicationssession. For example, the target user may configure one or more settingsthat allow users that are separated by two degrees of separation tocontact the target user over an anonymous communications session. Theprivacy configuration settings may also include other attributes inaddition to, or in lieu of, degrees of separation, such as currentresidence, events attended, interests, personal history (e.g., commoneducation institutions or employers).

In particular embodiments, directory service 107 may determine whetherthe anonymous communication session has ended (step 207). In particularembodiments, after the anonymous communication session had ended,directory service 107 may formulate and provide the target user theoption to create contact association for future communication betweenthe target user and the initiating user (step 208). In particularembodiments, if the target user accepts the option, the socialnetworking system may create contact association for futurecommunication between the target user and the initiating user (step209). For example, if directory service 107 mediates an anonymous phonecall, directory service 107 may employ Interactive Voice Response (IVR)functionality 109 to query the user about various contact associationoptions after the call has ended. Alternatively, directory service 107may transmit an email to the target user with a form querying the userfor various contact association options. Other communications channelmanager functionality can be used to query users about contactassociation options, including SMS, chat and the like.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example method of creating a contact associationfor future communication between the target user and the initiatinguser. In particular embodiments, directory service 107 may offer thetarget user options to send a friend request to the initiating user,block future communication request from the initiating user, white listfuture communication request from the initiating user, or update privacysettings of the target user (step 301). In particular embodiments, ifthe target user selects the option to send a friend request to theinitiating user, the social networking system may formulate and send afriend request to the initiating user from the target user (step 302).In particular embodiments, if the target user selects the option toblock future communication request from the initiating user, then thesocial networking system may update the target user's privacy setting inprivacy database 103 to block future communication request from theinitiating user (step 303), such as by adding the initiating user to ablack list. In particular embodiments, if the target user selects theoption to white list future communication request from the initiatinguser, then the social networking system may add the initiating user to awhite list associate with the target user, wherein the white list mayauthorize future direct communication sessions from the initiating userto the target user, or may authorize the initiating user's access to thetarget user's communication channel information (step 304).

In particular embodiments, one or more privacy settings define accessparameters for the target user's communication channel information, userprofile information and event information. For example, the target usermay configure privacy settings to specifically block the initiating userfrom accessing certain communication channels, or may block theinitiating user from accessing the target user's event information, ormay block the initiating user from accessing the target user's wallposts but allow the initiating user for future communication in certaincommunication channels. In particular embodiments, if the target useraccepts the option to update privacy settings, then the socialnetworking system may formulate a privacy setting update mechanism(e.g., populate a web page with privacy setting parameters and presentthe web page to the target user) allowing the target user to updateprivacy settings in the privacy policy database 103 (step 305).

FIG. 4 illustrates an example method of a directory service havingspatiotemporal privacy features. In some implementations, the socialnetwork system may track the locations of one or more users and storethe location history in a data store. For example, users may usegeo-social networking functionality to check in to various locations. Inaddition, a mobile client application hosted on a mobile device of auser may attach location information generated by a GPS module tomessages transmitted from the mobile device 110 to the social networkingsystem. In addition, the user may accept an invitation to an eventhaving a known geographic location. As discussed below, this locationhistory can be used in connection with directory service 107 to allowfor various privacy settings with geographical and temporal aspects.

In particular embodiments, a mobile directory service client applicationhosted on a mobile device 110 may provide access to directory service107. In particular embodiments, an initiating user may request adirectory look up for a target user by providing the mobile directoryservice the target user's information (e.g., first and last name) andtype of communication channel information requested (e.g., cell phonenumber or email address). In particular embodiments, the mobiledirectory service client application may automatically collect locationinformation of the initiating user. For example, the initiating user'slocation can be determined by GPS or a mobile phone location trackingfunction of the initiating user's mobile device 110. In particularembodiments, the mobile directory service client application maycommunicate with directory service 107 and provide the target user'sinformation and the initiating user's current location information (Step401). In particular embodiments, if directory service 107 is notavailable, the mobile directory service client application may return a“service not available” message to the initiating user (Step 402). Inparticular embodiments, if directory service 107 cannot find the targetuser, the mobile directory service client application may return a “usernot found” message to the initiating user (Step 403). In particularembodiments, directory service 107 may determine the target user'scurrent location information. For example, the target user's locationcan be determined by GPS function on the target user's mobile device110. In particular embodiments, directory service 107 may access alocation history data store to determine the target user's andinitiating user's past location information. For example, the locationinformation can be based on a data store of check-in activity maintainedby a geosocial networking service, an events service that allows usersto configure and register attendance for events, status updates,calendar information and the like.

In particular embodiments, the target user may have one or more privacysettings that allows access to the target user's communication channelinformation only for user requests that can satisfy one or more social,spatiotemporal, geographic and/or temporal conditions defined by the oneor more privacy settings. For example, the target user's privacy settingmay allow access to the target user's cell phone number only forrequesting users that are currently in the same vicinity (e.g. within 1mile) as the target user. In such an embodiment, directory service 107may compare the current locations of the initiating and target users. Inother implementation, users may configure privacy settings that includeone or more spatiotemporal aspects to allow access to contactinformation to users that have “crossed paths” with the target user. Forexample, a user may configure a privacy setting that allows access tocontact information to users that were in the same geographic location(out to a configurable radius) at the same time as the user (within aconfigurable window of time) all within a configurable overall slidingwindow of time as measured from the request. Such privacy settingsenable users to allow access to contact information to requesting usersthat met target users at a party or other social event in the recentpast. In addition, the privacy settings can also include a socialdimension, such as specifying a maximum degree of separation beyondwhich contact information may not be allowed. For example, the targetuser's privacy settings may allow access to the target user's cell phonenumber only for the target user's friends in the social networkingsystem, but allow access to the target user's instant message ID for theusers in the social networking systems who are friends of friends, andattended the same college (e.g., Stanford University) or were in thesame city of the college (e.g., Palo Alto, Calif.) during the same yearsas the target user attended the college. In particular embodiments, ifdirectory service 107 determines that the initiating user can notsatisfy the social, spatial and temporal conditions defined by thetarget user's privacy settings, the mobile directory service clientapplication may return a “user not found” message to the initiating user(Step 405). In particular embodiments, if access to the target user'scommunication channel information is allowed by the target user'sprivacy settings, the mobile directory service client application mayprovide the target user's communication channel information to theinitiating user (Step 406).

FIG. 5 illustrates an example network environment 500. Networkenvironment 500 includes a network 510 coupling one or more servers 520and one or more clients 530 to each other. Network environment 500 alsoincludes one or more data storage 540 linked to one or more servers 520.Particular embodiments may be implemented in network environment 500.For example, directory service 107 and social networking system frontend104 may be written in software programs hosted by one or more servers520. For example, event database 102 may be stored in one or morestorage 540. In particular embodiments, network 510 is an intranet, anextranet, a virtual private network (VPN), a local area network (LAN), awireless LAN (WLAN), a wide area network (WAN), a metropolitan areanetwork (MAN), a portion of the Internet, or another network 510 or acombination of two or more such networks 510. The present disclosurecontemplates any suitable network 510.

One or more links 550 couple a server 520 or a client 530 to network510. In particular embodiments, one or more links 550 each includes oneor more wired, wireless, or optical links 550. In particularembodiments, one or more links 550 each includes an intranet, anextranet, a VPN, a LAN, a WLAN, a WAN, a MAN, a portion of the Internet,or another link 550 or a combination of two or more such links 550. Thepresent disclosure contemplates any suitable links 550 coupling servers520 and clients 530 to network 510.

In particular embodiments, each server 520 may be a unitary server ormay be a distributed server spanning multiple computers or multipledatacenters. Servers 520 may be of various types, such as, for exampleand without limitation, web server, news server, mail server, messageserver, advertising server, file server, application server, exchangeserver, database server, or proxy server. In particular embodiments,each server 520 may include hardware, software, or embedded logiccomponents or a combination of two or more such components for carryingout the appropriate functionalities implemented or supported by server520. For example, a web server is generally capable of hosting websitescontaining web pages or particular elements of web pages. Morespecifically, a web server may host HTML files or other file types, ormay dynamically create or constitute files upon a request, andcommunicate them to clients 530 in response to HTTP or other requestsfrom clients 530. A mail server is generally capable of providingelectronic mail services to various clients 530. A database server isgenerally capable of providing an interface for managing data stored inone or more data stores.

In particular embodiments, one or more data storages 540 may becommunicatively linked to one or more severs 520 via one or more links550. In particular embodiments, data storages 540 may be used to storevarious types of information. In particular embodiments, the informationstored in data storages 540 may be organized according to specific datastructures. In particular embodiment, each data storage 540 may be arelational database. Particular embodiments may provide interfaces thatenable servers 520 or clients 530 to manage, e.g., retrieve, modify,add, or delete, the information stored in data storage 540.

In particular embodiments, each client 530 may be an electronic deviceincluding hardware, software, or embedded logic components or acombination of two or more such components and capable of carrying outthe appropriate functionalities implemented or supported by client 530.For example and without limitation, a client 530 may be a desktopcomputer system, a notebook computer system, a netbook computer system,a handheld electronic device, or a mobile telephone. The presentdisclosure contemplates any suitable clients 530. A client 530 mayenable a network user at client 530 to access network 530. A client 530may enable its user to communicate with other users at other clients530.

A client 530 may have a web browser 532, such as MICROSOFT INTERNETEXPLORER, GOOGLE CHROME or MOZILLA FIREFOX, and may have one or moreadd-ons, plug-ins, or other extensions, such as TOOLBAR or YAHOOTOOLBAR. A user at client 530 may enter a Uniform Resource Locator (URL)or other address directing the web browser 532 to a server 520, and theweb browser 532 may generate a Hyper Text Transfer Protocol (HTTP)request and communicate the HTTP request to server 520. Server 520 mayaccept the HTTP request and communicate to client 530 one or more HyperText Markup Language (HTML) files responsive to the HTTP request. Client530 may render a web page based on the HTML files from server 520 forpresentation to the user. The present disclosure contemplates anysuitable web page files. As an example and not by way of limitation, webpages may render from HTML files, Extensible Hyper Text Markup Language(XHTML) files, or Extensible Markup Language (XML) files, according toparticular needs. Such pages may also execute scripts such as, forexample and without limitation, those written in JAVASCRIPT, JAVA,MICROSOFT SILVERLIGHT, combinations of markup language and scripts suchas AJAX (Asynchronous JAVASCRIPT and XML), and the like. Herein,reference to a web page encompasses one or more corresponding web pagefiles (which a browser may use to render the web page) and vice versa,where appropriate.

FIG. 6 illustrates an example computer system 600, which may be usedwith some embodiments of the present invention. For example, directoryservice 107 may be written in one or more software programs hosted onone or more computer systems 600. For example, mobile device 110 mayinclude computer system 600.

This disclosure contemplates any suitable number of computer systems600. This disclosure contemplates computer system 600 taking anysuitable physical form. As example and not by way of limitation,computer system 600 may be an embedded computer system, a system-on-chip(SOC), a single-board computer system (SBC) (such as, for example, acomputer-on-module (COM) or system-on-module (SOM)), a desktop computersystem, a laptop or notebook computer system, an interactive kiosk, amainframe, a mesh of computer systems, a mobile telephone, a personaldigital assistant (PDA), a server, or a combination of two or more ofthese. Where appropriate, computer system 600 may include one or morecomputer systems 600; be unitary or distributed; span multiplelocations; span multiple machines; or reside in a cloud, which mayinclude one or more cloud components in one or more networks. Whereappropriate, one or more computer systems 600 may perform withoutsubstantial spatial or temporal limitation one or more steps of one ormore methods described or illustrated herein. As an example and not byway of limitation, one or more computer systems 600 may perform in realtime or in batch mode one or more steps of one or more methods describedor illustrated herein. One or more computer systems 600 may perform atdifferent times or at different locations one or more steps of one ormore methods described or illustrated herein, where appropriate.

In particular embodiments, computer system 600 includes a processor 602,memory 604, storage 606, an input/output (I/O) interface 608, acommunication interface 610, and a bus 612. Although this disclosuredescribes and illustrates a particular computer system having aparticular number of particular components in a particular arrangement,this disclosure contemplates any suitable computer system having anysuitable number of any suitable components in any suitable arrangement.

In particular embodiments, processor 602 includes hardware for executinginstructions, such as those making up a computer program. As an exampleand not by way of limitation, to execute instructions, processor 602 mayretrieve (or fetch) the instructions from an internal register, aninternal cache, memory 604, or storage 606; decode and execute them; andthen write one or more results to an internal register, an internalcache, memory 604, or storage 606. In particular embodiments, processor602 may include one or more internal caches for data, instructions, oraddresses. The present disclosure contemplates processor 602 includingany suitable number of any suitable internal caches, where appropriate.As an example and not by way of limitation, processor 602 may includeone or more instruction caches, one or more data caches, and one or moretranslation look-aside buffers (TLBs). Instructions in the instructioncaches may be copies of instructions in memory 604 or storage 606, andthe instruction caches may speed up retrieval of those instructions byprocessor 602. Data in the data caches may be copies of data in memory604 or storage 606 for instructions executing at processor 602 tooperate on; the results of previous instructions executed at processor602 for access by subsequent instructions executing at processor 602 orfor writing to memory 604 or storage 606; or other suitable data. Thedata caches may speed up read or write operations by processor 602. TheTLBs may speed up virtual-address translation for processor 602. Inparticular embodiments, processor 602 may include one or more internalregisters for data, instructions, or addresses. The present disclosurecontemplates processor 602 including any suitable number of any suitableinternal registers, where appropriate. Where appropriate, processor 602may include one or more arithmetic logic units (ALUs); be a multi-coreprocessor; or include one or more processors 602. Although thisdisclosure describes and illustrates a particular processor, thisdisclosure contemplates any suitable processor.

In particular embodiments, memory 604 includes main memory for storinginstructions for processor 602 to execute or data for processor 602 tooperate on. As an example and not by way of limitation, computer system600 may load instructions from storage 606 or another source (such as,for example, another computer system 600) to memory 604. Processor 602may then load the instructions from memory 604 to an internal registeror internal cache. To execute the instructions, processor 602 mayretrieve the instructions from the internal register or internal cacheand decode them. During or after execution of the instructions,processor 602 may write one or more results (which may be intermediateor final results) to the internal register or internal cache. Processor602 may then write one or more of those results to memory 604. Inparticular embodiments, processor 602 executes only instructions in oneor more internal registers or internal caches or in memory 604 (asopposed to storage 606 or elsewhere) and operates only on data in one ormore internal registers or internal caches or in memory 604 (as opposedto storage 606 or elsewhere). One or more memory buses (which may eachinclude an address bus and a data bus) may couple processor 602 tomemory 604. Bus 612 may include one or more memory buses, as describedbelow. In particular embodiments, one or more memory management units(MMUs) reside between processor 602 and memory 604 and facilitateaccesses to memory 604 requested by processor 602. In particularembodiments, memory 604 includes random access memory (RAM). This RAMmay be volatile memory, where appropriate Where appropriate, this RAMmay be dynamic RAM (DRAM) or static RAM (SRAM). Moreover, whereappropriate, this RAM may be single-ported or multi-ported RAM. Thepresent disclosure contemplates any suitable RAM. Memory 604 may includeone or more memories 604, where appropriate. Although this disclosuredescribes and illustrates particular memory, this disclosurecontemplates any suitable memory.

In particular embodiments, storage 606 includes mass storage for data orinstructions. As an example and not by way of limitation, storage 606may include an HDD, a floppy disk drive, flash memory, an optical disc,a magneto-optical disc, magnetic tape, or a Universal Serial Bus (USB)drive or a combination of two or more of these. Storage 606 may includeremovable or non-removable (or fixed) media, where appropriate. Storage606 may be internal or external to computer system 600, whereappropriate. In particular embodiments, storage 606 is non-volatile,solid-state memory. In particular embodiments, storage 606 includesread-only memory (ROM). Where appropriate, this ROM may bemask-programmed ROM, programmable ROM (PROM), erasable PROM (EPROM),electrically erasable PROM (EEPROM), electrically alterable ROM (EAROM),or flash memory or a combination of two or more of these. Thisdisclosure contemplates mass storage 606 taking any suitable physicalform. Storage 606 may include one or more storage control unitsfacilitating communication between processor 602 and storage 606, whereappropriate. Where appropriate, storage 606 may include one or morestorages 606. Although this disclosure describes and illustratesparticular storage, this disclosure contemplates any suitable storage.

In particular embodiments, I/O interface 608 includes hardware,software, or both providing one or more interfaces for communicationbetween computer system 600 and one or more I/O devices. Computer system600 may include one or more of these I/O devices, where appropriate. Oneor more of these I/O devices may enable communication between a personand computer system 600. As an example and not by way of limitation, anI/O device may include a keyboard, keypad, microphone, monitor, mouse,printer, scanner, speaker, still camera, stylus, tablet, touch screen,trackball, video camera, another suitable I/O device or a combination oftwo or more of these. An I/O device may include one or more sensors.This disclosure contemplates any suitable I/O devices and any suitableI/O interfaces 608 for them. Where appropriate, I/O interface 608 mayinclude one or more device or software drivers enabling processor 602 todrive one or more of these I/O devices. I/O interface 608 may includeone or more I/O interfaces 608, where appropriate. Although thisdisclosure describes and illustrates a particular I/O interface, thisdisclosure contemplates any suitable I/O interface.

In particular embodiments, communication interface 610 includeshardware, software, or both providing one or more interfaces forcommunication (such as, for example, packet-based communication) betweencomputer system 600 and one or more other computer systems 600 or one ormore networks. As an example and not by way of limitation, communicationinterface 610 may include a network interface controller (NIC) ornetwork adapter for communicating with an Ethernet or other wire-basednetwork or a wireless NIC (WNIC) or wireless adapter for communicatingwith a wireless network, such as a WI-FI network. This disclosurecontemplates any suitable network and any suitable communicationinterface 610 for it. As an example and not by way of limitation,computer system 600 may communicate with an ad hoc network, a personalarea network (PAN), a local area network (LAN), a wide area network(WAN), a metropolitan area network (MAN), or one or more portions of theInternet or a combination of two or more of these. One or more portionsof one or more of these networks may be wired or wireless. As anexample, computer system 600 may communicate with a wireless PAN (WPAN)(such as, for example, a BLUETOOTH WPAN), a WI-FI network, a WI-MAXnetwork, a cellular telephone network (such as, for example, a GlobalSystem for Mobile Communications (GSM) network), or other suitablewireless network or a combination of two or more of these. Computersystem 600 may include any suitable communication interface 610 for anyof these networks, where appropriate. Communication interface 610 mayinclude one or more communication interfaces 610, where appropriate.Although this disclosure describes and illustrates a particularcommunication interface, this disclosure contemplates any suitablecommunication interface.

In particular embodiments, bus 612 includes hardware, software, or bothcoupling components of computer system 600 to each other. As an exampleand not by way of limitation, bus 612 may include an AcceleratedGraphics Port (AGP) or other graphics bus, an Enhanced Industry StandardArchitecture (EISA) bus, a front-side bus (FSB), a HYPERTRANSPORT (HT)interconnect, an Industry Standard Architecture (ISA) bus, an INFINIBANDinterconnect, a low-pin-count (LPC) bus, a memory bus, a Micro ChannelArchitecture (MCA) bus, a Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) bus, aPCI-Express (PCI-X) bus, a serial advanced technology attachment (SATA)bus, a Video Electronics Standards Association local (VLB) bus, oranother suitable bus or a combination of two or more of these. Bus 612may include one or more buses 612, where appropriate. Although thisdisclosure describes and illustrates a particular bus, this disclosurecontemplates any suitable bus or interconnect.

Herein, reference to a computer-readable storage medium encompasses oneor more non-transitory, tangible computer-readable storage mediapossessing structure. As an example and not by way of limitation, acomputer-readable storage medium may include a semiconductor-based orother integrated circuit (IC) (such, as for example, afield-programmable gate array (FPGA) or an application-specific IC(ASIC)), a hard disk, an HDD, a hybrid hard drive (HHD), an opticaldisc, an optical disc drive (ODD), a magneto-optical disc, amagneto-optical drive, a floppy disk, a floppy disk drive (FDD),magnetic tape, a holographic storage medium, a solid-state drive (SSD),a RAM-drive, a SECURE DIGITAL card, a SECURE DIGITAL drive, or anothersuitable computer-readable storage medium or a combination of two ormore of these, where appropriate. Herein, reference to acomputer-readable storage medium excludes any medium that is noteligible for patent protection under 35 U.S.C. §101. Herein, referenceto a computer-readable storage medium excludes transitory forms ofsignal transmission (such as a propagating electrical or electromagneticsignal per se) to the extent that they are not eligible for patentprotection under 35 U.S.C. §101.

This disclosure contemplates one or more computer-readable storage mediaimplementing any suitable storage. In particular embodiments, acomputer-readable storage medium implements one or more portions ofprocessor 602 (such as, for example, one or more internal registers orcaches), one or more portions of memory 604, one or more portions ofstorage 606, or a combination of these, where appropriate. In particularembodiments, a computer-readable storage medium implements RAM or ROM.In particular embodiments, a computer-readable storage medium implementsvolatile or persistent memory. In particular embodiments, one or morecomputer-readable storage media embody software. Herein, reference tosoftware may encompass one or more applications, bytecode, one or morecomputer programs, one or more executables, one or more instructions,logic, machine code, one or more scripts, or source code, and viceversa, where appropriate. In particular embodiments, software includesone or more application programming interfaces (APIs). This disclosurecontemplates any suitable software written or otherwise expressed in anysuitable programming language or combination of programming languages.In particular embodiments, software is expressed as source code orobject code. In particular embodiments, software is expressed in ahigher-level programming language, such as, for example, C, Perl, or asuitable extension thereof. In particular embodiments, software isexpressed in a lower-level programming language, such as assemblylanguage (or machine code). In particular embodiments, software isexpressed in JAVA. In particular embodiments, software is expressed inHyper Text Markup Language (HTML), Extensible Markup Language (XML), orother suitable markup language.

The present disclosure encompasses all changes, substitutions,variations, alterations, and modifications to the example embodimentsherein that a person having ordinary skill in the art would comprehend.Similarly, where appropriate, the appended claims encompass all changes,substitutions, variations, alterations, and modifications to the exampleembodiments herein that a person having ordinary skill in the art wouldcomprehend.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: by one or more computingdevices associated with a social-networking system, receiving from aninitiating user a request for contact information of a target user; byone or more computing devices associated with a social-networkingsystem, determining location information associated with the initiatinguser; by one or more computing devices associated with thesocial-networking system, determining that one or more privacy settingsof the target user prevent the contact information of the target userfrom being provided to the initiating user, the privacy settingsincluding one or more spatiotemporal conditions; by one or morecomputing devices associated with the social-networking system,determining whether one or more of the spatiotemporal conditions of theprivacy settings allow for a communication session between theinitiating user and the target user based on the location informationassociated with the initiating user; and by one or more computingdevices associated with the social-networking system, in response todetermining that one or more of the spatiotemporal conditions allow forthe communication session between the initiating user and the targetuser, establishing an anonymous communication session between theinitiating and target users, wherein contact information of theinitiating user is presented to the target user in the anonymouscommunication session and contact information of the target user ishidden from the initiating user in the anonymous communication session.2. The method of claim 1, further comprising: in response to theanonymous communication session ending, providing, from thesocial-networking system, an automatic prompt to the target user-to:create a social-networking relationship with the initiating user in thesocial-networking system, comprising: sending a friend request to theinitiating user from the target user, or adding the initiating user to awhite list associated with the target user, the white list configured toauthorize further communication requests from the initiating user to thetarget user; or block the initiating user from the target user in thesocial-networking system.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the locationinformation associated with the initiating user is automaticallydetermined by the social-networking system.
 4. The method of claim 1,further comprising determining location information associated with thetarget user, wherein the spatiotemporal conditions of the privacysettings of the target user are determined based at least in part on thelocation information associated with the target user.
 5. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the determining that one or more of the spatiotemporalconditions allow for the communication session between the initiatinguser and the target user further comprises: comparing a current locationassociated with the initiating user with a current location associatedwith the target user, and allowing for the communication session when adistance between the current location associated with the initiatinguser and the current location associated with the target user is lessthan or equal to a predetermined distance.
 6. The method of claim 5,wherein the predetermined distance is set by the target user as part ofthe one or more spatiotemporal conditions of the privacy setting.
 7. Themethod of claim 1, wherein determining the location informationassociated with the initiating user comprises accessing the locationinformation from a data store associated with the social-networkingsystem, or retrieving the location information as information attachedto one or more previously messages transmitted from a computing deviceassociated with the initiating user to the social-networking system. 8.One or more computer-readable non-transitory media embodying softwarethat is configured when executed to: at a social-networking system,receive from an initiating user a request for contact information of atarget user; at the social-networking system, determine locationinformation associated with the initiating user; at thesocial-networking system, determine that one or more privacy settings ofthe target user prevent the contact information of the target user frombeing provided to the initiating user, the privacy settings includingone or more spatiotemporal conditions; at the social-networking system,determine whether one or more of the spatiotemporal conditions of theprivacy settings allow for a communication session between theinitiating user and the target user based on the location informationassociated with the initiating user; and at the social-networkingsystem, in response to determining that one or more of thespatiotemporal conditions allow for the communication session betweenthe initiating user and the target user, establish an anonymouscommunication session between the initiating and target users, whereincontact information of the initiating user is presented to the targetuser in the anonymous communication session and contact information ofthe target user is hidden from the initiating user in the anonymouscommunication session.
 9. The media of claim 8, further comprising: inresponse to the anonymous communication session ending, provide, fromthe social-networking system, an automatic prompt to the target user-to:create a social-networking relationship with the initiating user in thesocial-networking system, comprising: send a friend request to theinitiating user from the target user, or add the initiating user to awhite list associated with the target user, the white list configured toauthorize further communication requests from the initiating user to thetarget user; or block the initiating user from the target user in thesocial-networking system.
 10. The media of claim 8, wherein the locationinformation associated with the initiating user is automaticallydetermined by the social-networking system.
 11. The media of claim 8,further comprising determining location information associated with thetarget user, wherein the spatiotemporal conditions of the privacysettings of the target user are determined based at least in part on thelocation information associated with the target user.
 12. The media ofclaim 8, wherein the determining that one or more of the spatiotemporalconditions allow for the communication session between the initiatinguser and the target user further comprises: comparing a current locationassociated with the initiating user with a current location associatedwith the target user, and allowing for the communication session when adistance between the current location associated with the initiatinguser and the current location associated with the target user is lessthan or equal to a predetermined distance.
 13. The media of claim 12,wherein the predetermined distance is set by the target user as part ofthe one or more spatiotemporal conditions of the privacy setting. 14.The media of claim 8, wherein determining the location informationassociated with the initiating user comprises accessing the locationinformation from a data store associated with the social-networkingsystem, or retrieving the location information as information attachedto one or more previously messages transmitted from a computing deviceassociated with the initiating user to the social-networking system. 15.A system comprising: one or more processors; and logic encoded in one ormore computer-readable tangible storage media that, when executed by theone or more processors, is operable to: at a social-networking system,receive from an initiating user a request for contact information of atarget user; at the social-networking system, determine locationinformation associated with the initiating user; at thesocial-networking system, determine that one or more privacy settings ofthe target user prevent the contact information of the target user frombeing provided to the initiating user, the privacy settings includingone or more spatiotemporal conditions; at the social-networking system,determine whether one or more of the spatiotemporal conditions of theprivacy settings allow for a communication session between theinitiating user and the target user based on the location informationassociated with the initiating user; and at the social-networkingsystem, in response to determining that one or more of thespatiotemporal conditions allow for the communication session betweenthe initiating user and the target user, establish an anonymouscommunication session between the initiating and target users, whereincontact information of the initiating user is presented to the targetuser in the anonymous communication session and contact information ofthe target user is hidden from the initiating user in the anonymouscommunication session.
 16. The system of claim 15, further comprising:in response to the anonymous communication session ending, provide, fromthe social-networking system, an automatic prompt to the target user-to:create a social-networking relationship with the initiating user in thesocial-networking system, comprising: send a friend request to theinitiating user from the target user, or add the initiating user to awhite list associated with the target user, the white list configured toauthorize further communication requests from the initiating user to thetarget user; or block the initiating user from the target user in thesocial-networking system.
 17. The system of claim 15, wherein thelocation information associated with the initiating user isautomatically determined by the one or more computing devices.
 18. Thesystem of claim 15, further comprising determining location informationassociated with the target user, wherein the spatiotemporal conditionsof the privacy settings of the target user are determined based at leastin part on the location information associated with the target user. 19.The system of claim 15, wherein the determining that one or more of thespatiotemporal conditions allow for the communication session betweenthe initiating user and the target user further comprises: comparing acurrent location associated with the initiating user with a currentlocation associated with the target user, and allowing for thecommunication session when a distance between the current locationassociated with the initiating user and the current location associatedwith the target user is less than or equal to a predetermined distance.20. The system of claim 15, wherein the predetermined distance is set bythe target user as part of the one or more spatiotemporal conditions ofthe privacy setting.